FSU Sophomore Earns All-ACC Honors

Florida State University sophomore Aaron Thomas, who enters the 2014 ACC Tournament averaging a team-leading 14.1 points scored per game, earned All-ACC Honorable Mention honors as voted on by the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. It marks the ninth consecutive season and 11th time in the 12 seasons under head coach Leonard Hamilton that the Seminoles have had at least one player earn All-ACC Honors.

Thomas enters the 2014 ACC Tournament ranked 13th in the ACC in scoring, fifth in free throw shooting percentage and seventh in steals.

Thomas and the Seminoles open the ACC Tournament against Maryland on Thursday at 12 Noon playing his best basketball of the season. He has scored in double figures in 11 straight games and is averaging 16.9 points per game since scoring 12 points at NC State on January 29. Since that game he has scored at least 14 points in nine consecutive games, tied his career high with 26 points in the Seminoles’ win over Boston College on March 4 and scored 24 points in Florida State’s win over Virginia Tech on February 5.

Thomas has scored in double figures in 24 of the Seminoles’ 30 games and is looking to become the first sophomore to lead the Seminoles in scoring since Von Wafer during the 2005 season (12.5 ppg). Thomas has scored a single-season career high 423 points and has improved his scoring average by 8.1 points per game as compared to his freshman season when he averaged 6.0 points scored per game.

As the fifth best free throw shooter in the ACC, Thomas is shooting a career-high .845 from the line and has made a career-high 120 free throws. He is tied for fourth in total free throws made and has increased his free throw shooting percentage by nearly 15 percentage points as compared to his freshman season.

Also in the top 10 in the ACC in steals, Thomas has a single-season career-high 46 and a career-high 1.5 steals per game average. He earned his career-high of six steals in the Seminoles’ win over UT Martin on November 17 and totaled four steals each in victories against Northeastern on November 24 and at Wake Forest on February 15.

The Tampa Bay Lightning have recalled defenseman Slater Koekkoek from the Syracuse Crunch of the American Hockey League today, vice president and general manager Steve Yzerman announced. Koekkoek, 21, has skated in 66 ga